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I sit on the quay in Darwin, my father at my side, taking in the surroundings – the bird calls, the trees, the clear blue skies. The Australian accents, toilet block building with a drinking fountain, the utes with the Australian number plates, the Northern Territory flag. We have only sailed 400km and it is so, so different. I can feel the desert lurking beyond the horizon as the heat of the day mounts, and I feel a welling up of emotion. I have come all this way to be here, through so many places, meeting so many people, and now I am here. I am home.

The crew of the Sue Sea

Dozens of dolphins jumped around as – playing with us – as the boat passed through the calm waters. Amazing sunsets and sunrises were presented before us on the open seas – alone in this beautiful place with only sea and sky. As the sky turned from blue through oranges and pink to black, the full moon rose and lit the seas with a shimmering beam, all through the night. We threw-up as the boat was pummelled by the violent ocean, and then returned to health and to a rhythm of cook, eat, sleep.

Sunrise on the Timor Sea

We have had a real sailing adventure. Thank-you to the crew of the Sue Sea who let us (Clement and myself, together with Romain – a backpacker from France) on board to take the boat back from Dili to Australia after taking part in the Darwin to Dili yacht rally. From the second we met them in Dili, they have welcomed us onboard and to their sailing family, and found a way to transport us, our luggage and our bikes on the 15m yacht.
The bikes, after the most thorough clean they have ever had (for Australian quarantine), were disassembled and stowed in with the sails at the very front of the boat. A little bit wet and jossled, they arrived safe and sound on Australian soil – all the way from Europe without a flight on a plane.

Igor, Gus, Betsy, Fons, Michael and the rest of the sailing family we met in Dili – you are legends!